Exploring Artificial Intelligence Tools and Their Potential Impact to Instructional Design Workflows and Organizational Systems

This article explores the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on Instructional Design (ID) workflows and organizations from a systems thinking perspective (Meadows, 2008). We provide an in-depth analysis of how three AI tools, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Descript, can enhance efficiency in instructional design content creation processes. We also consider, in our analysis, challenges and ethical considerations associated with the integration of AI in instructional design workflows. Our explorations and findings suggest that AI holds significant potential for improving content creation processes for instructional design, allowing instructional designers more time for higher order thinking tasks and ensuring content quality. Considerations of AI’s possibilities and limitations were also identified as crucial to ensure quality of content and ethical use. Furthermore, we conclude that AI prompt engineering is an important skill in AI-assisted ID workflows. This article contributes to the ongoing discourse on the intersection of AI and instructional design practice and suggests possible opportunities for subsequent empirical research.